Automatic heat indicator and distant alarm



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. GEE.

AUTOMATIC HEAT INDICATOR AND DISTANT ALARM.

Patented Jan. 18, 1887.

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(No Model.) 2Sheets--Sheet- 2. W. GEE.

AUTOMATIC HEAT INDICATOR AND DISTANT ALARM. f---\ 36 Patented Jan. 18, 1887.

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In the said drawings the UNITED e STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

YVILLIAM GEE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC HEAT-INDICATOR AND DlSTANT ALARM.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 356,360, dated January 18, 1887.

Application tiled July Q7, 1886. Serial No. 209,249.

To aZZ 2071/0722 it may concern:

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM GEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York,

in the countyof New York and State of New 5 York, have invented new and useful Improve ments in Thermostats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to automatic heat indicators or alarms, used for the purpose of notifying a central point or station of an unsafe increase in temperature at one or moredistant points.

The purpose of my invention is to provide an apparatus which shall have great sensitiveness and accuracy, and in which the variations in temperature shall be indicated upon a dial, while the danger-point is announced by the closing of an electric circuit by an arm actuated by the expansionstem.

It is a further purpose of my invention to so organize the mechanism that the contactpiece may be adjusted to close the circuit at any point upon the thermometer-scale, the index-hand upon the scale indicating the same degree of heat at the moment of contact. In other words, I propose to render the dangerpoint adjustable, in order that if it is necessary to provide against a rise to the point of 100 Fahrenheit, for example, the circuit will close at the instant the index-hand reaches 100 on the dial, or practically so.

The invention consists in the several novel features of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter fully set forth, and definitely pointed out in the claims following this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus, the 'dialplate part of the figure being in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section in the line :0 a", Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the neck of the casing. 3 is an elevation showing a modification. Fig. 1 is a transverse section of Fig. 3 in the line 3 y. I

reference-numeral 1 designates a casing in which the contacts and other parts are inclosed to preserve them from dust. Projecting from one side of this casing is a neck, 2, in which are placed three parallel 5o rods, 3, equidistant from each other, as shown in Fig. 2.

In a suitable guide, 5, 1s placed a stem, 6,

(No model.)

having one end connected, by a screw-thread, or in any suitable manner, to the neck 7 upon an expansion-disk, 8. This disk, which is shown in section in Fig. 1, consists of a cylindrical receptacle formed of two sheets of thin metal, 9, joined at their edges by solder to form a hermetically-sealed chamber. One of the metal faces 9 is preferably formed with annular or concentric corrugations l0, and the disk is provided upon each face wit-ha central neck, 11. A series of these disks being placed in the same axial line, a guide-tube, 12, is passed through the several necks 11, with its open end lying in the center, or thereabout, of the last disk, to which the stem 6 is connected, said tube being provided with small openings 13, communicating with the chamber in each disk. The neck 11 of one disk is slipped over the neck of the adjacent disk and the joint is sealed tightly, care being taken to so connect the parts that there may be free movement of the disks upon the guide-tube.

Vhen all the disks are in place and connected, they may be filled with alcohol, arnmonia, or other sensitive and expansible fluid, and the tube 12 is then sealed at its end and connected with arigid support, 14-. The rods 3 surround and guide the disks, but do not inipede their movement, supporting and holding the expansion-cups in line, so as to give the best possible results as the expansion and contraction take place. It will readily be seen that without such a guide or lateral support the necks of the connected disks or cups may easily be deflected, and thereby defeat the re sult sought.

The disks may be partly filled with air or gas and partly with tluid; or any expansible .medium or compound may be employed. They are so formed that the corrugated face 9 normally tends to approach the other or plain face, and they are filled with the eXp-ansible medium when thus contracted and at a suitably low temperature.

The stem 6 is extended beyond its bearing 5, and is pivotally connected to a lever, 15, fulcrumed at 16 within the casing 1. Atit-s other end this lever is linked by a bar, 17, to asector, 18, fulcrumed at 19, and having the curved edge 20 toothed to mesh with a pinion, 21. This pinion is mounted on a bearing, 22, and carries an index, 23, which travels upon the arm, 33, parallel to and moving with the pointer31. This contact is connected with one wire of an electro magnet, 34, lying in the same battery-circuit with the circuit-closer 26, so that when the circuit is made by the contact of the said parts themagnetis excited. .The arrangement of parts is such thatif thepointer 31 is moved to any point upon the graduated are 32as, for example, to the 100 point-the contact-arm 33 will be swung into such position thatas the stem 6 moves toward the bearing 22 the circuit-closer 26 will reach it at the instant that the index 23 reaches the graduation of 100 on the dial. In like manner the pointer 31 may be set at any point on the scale 32, and the contact-arm 33 will be so adjusted thereby that the circuit will be closed at the time the index 23 reaches the corresponding graduation on the dial.

The index 23 is mounted upon the outer end of the stud 22, which projects far enough in front of the dial to permit the index to travel over the pointer 31, as shown in Fig. 2.

The electro-magnet 3i may be used to operate any suitable signal, such as a call-bell or other device of like character; or it may be employed to close a separate local circuit, by which any suitable extinguishing apparatus may be brought into action.

As a modification of the abovedescribed apparatus, I may use the devices shown in Figs. 3 and at of the drawings, in which the thermometer, index, and scale are omitted. The circuit-closer 26 and contact-arm 33 are substantially the same as already indicated, and the adjustment is made by a pointer, 31, moving on a graduated are, 32, in the manner described. Bracket-arms 35 may be formed on the neck 2, which is provided with a shield, 2, to prevent accumulation of dust on the disks. The casing 1*, containing the contacts, is materially diminished in size by the omission of the thermometer-index and parts operating the same.

ment, as shown in Fig. 4.-.

By using a series of the expansion-disks 8, each made of very thin metal and each containing a small quantity of alcohol or other expansible medium, I obtain a most sensitive and accurate instrument, which will endure long and hard use, and in which the alarms will correspond very closely with the thermal indications on the dial. If the same quantity of alcohol were placed in a single expansiondisk, the action would be very slow and greatly This instrument may be'* attached in the angle of a room or compart diminished in degree,- but by distributing this bulk of fluid through a series of disks the changes of temperature are felt almost immediately, and the instrument not only responds quickly, but takes note of thermal changes which would be inappreciable by an instrument of different construction.

The instruments may be used in all places where heat is liable to be generated by friction or by chemical changes, as well as in places where articles are stored which are inflammable at comparatively low temperatures.

Heretot'orc a thermostat has been used in which a circuit is closed by the expansion of a disk carrying one contact on its movable face. A heat-indicator has also been used having an index moving on a graduated limb, upon which a contact is adjustable, the action of the index being effected by the expansion of a copper rod. An index has also been operated to close an electric circuit by means of the expansion of a column of mercury having a float connected with the pivotally-mounted index, the latter moving on a graduated limb on which a contact is adjustable, I make no claim to invention of this character.

The cups 8 are made of thin sheet-brass or other metal, and the necks 11 are of the same, so that some lateral support is needed to secure rectilinear motion as the expansion and contraction take place. Each cup has the form shown in sectionviz., a convex top and a corrugated bottom--whereby the air is easily and perfectly expelled as the alcohol is poured in.

Heretofore a series of disks has been used, placed in an air-tight and partly-exhausted vessel, with the actuating-rod which moves the index or other devices passing through air-tight fittings. I make no claim to such devices, as I use no surrounding exhausted vessel, but instead thereof make my cups of exceeding light metal, about No. 36, and support the series laterally by guide-rods 3, thus getting very sensitive action.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, with a series of expansion-disks, each composed of two thin plates soldered at the edges and provided with axial necks projecting in opposite directions, of a stem moved by the expansion of the disks, a circuit-closing arm connected to said stem, a pivotally-mounted contact-arm, a pointer rigidly mounted on the bearing carrying said contact, and a thermometer-index actuated by devices operated by the movements of the expansion stem, whereby the circuit will be closed and the corresponding heat-point indicated by'the thermometer, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a stem moving in suitable guides or bearings, of a connected series of expansion-disks, each composed of two plates of thin metal soldered at their edges, and provided with axial necks projecting in opposite directions, a rigid support at one end of the series, and a suitable guide or guides IIO in which said disks may move, substantially as described.

3. lhe combination, with a movable stem, of a series of disks, each composed of two plates of thin metal soldered at their edges, and provided with central necks projecting in opposite directions, of a guide-tube passing through the necks and the body of each disk, said tube having openings communicating with the interior of each disk, each of the latter having its necks connected to the necks of the adjacent disks by tight joints, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the series of expansion-disks, of a movable stem operated thereby, a thermometer-index moving on a graduated dial-plate and operated by said stem, a circuit-closingarni connected to the stem and vibrated thereby, a contact arm pivotally mounted in proximity to the circuitcloser, a pointer on the bearing of the contact and giving adjustment to the latter, and a graduated are on the dial-plate over which said pointer moves, whereby the alarm-point may be fixed at any degree of heat and the circuit be closed at the instant the thermometer-index reaches the corresponding graduation on dial, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a series of expansion-disks, of a movable stem operated thereby, a bell-crank lever pivoted to said stem and the fulcrulned in a casing, a circuit-closing arm' carried by said bell-crank, a contact-arm pivoted near the circuit-closer, a pointer rigid on the bearing carrying said arm, and a graduated are over which the pointer moves, whereby the alarm-point may be adjusted, substan- XVILLIAM GEE.

WVitnesses:

J OHN A. Trnnrrs, FREDERICK H. PARMELEE. 

